Huntress
by Firecracker-SJ
Summary: Bonnie goes to warn Matt that hybrids might be coming after them and meets a stranger at the Grill. This Meredith seems to be bad news until the hybrids strike. One-shot. Warning Violence and decapitations. Chars: Bonnie, Matt and a book inspired Meredith


**AN: **I am trying to get myself to write more and to write down those little ideas I have sometimes when watching the show. This is a bit of an AU one-shot and it's based on the fact that whilst I don't hate the Meredith on the show, I think she was so much cooler in the books. She was this calm bad ass presence that just got shit done.

So this is a bit of a mash-up of tv and book cannon, introducing a Meredith Fell that isn't a doctor but a bad ass huntress. This takes place right after Stefan has stole Klaus' coffins.

**Warnings:** Violence and decapitations.

* * *

**Huntress**

Bonnie scanned the Grill, looking for familiar faces though that was probably useless. If Klaus was going to retaliate against them for Stefan taking his coffins, he would surely send some hybrid to do his dirty work. And she had no idea which people in the crowd were human and which weren't. It made her feel uneasy, made her think that every stranger was a potential threat.

How she longed for the days when her biggest worries were whether she'd finish her history homework in time.

She let out the breath when she spotted Matt wiping down a table at the other side of the Grill. She hitched her bag over her shoulder and made her way over to him, still keeping an eye on her surroundings.

"Hey, Matt." She said, trying and failing to keep her voice from betraying her uneasiness.

He looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, what's up?"

That was a bit of a tricky one. Bonnie hadn't quite figured out how she was going to tell Matt that Klaus wanted them all dead (again) because Stefan apparently stole these coffins which contained his siblings. It didn't exactly roll of the tongue. Any other person in any other town would have thought it all nonsensical. But not them.

Bonnie smiled nervously and stepped a little closer. "We need to talk. I've got something to tell you, something big."

The expression on his face soured immediately and Bonnie saw that he knew exactly the direction the conversation was going to take. It just wasn't fair_._ Matt already had so much to worry about that throwing vampire crap on top of that seemed almost too cruel. He touched her arm lightly and as Bonnie looked up at him and she felt almost guilty for being the one to pile the crap on.

"Just tell me, Bonnie." He said quietly.

And so she did. He didn't say anything until she was finished talking. He just listened earnestly as she watched the blood drain from his face.

"Why can't they just leave us alone?" He finally sighed, sounding almost defeated. Bonnie could only shrug in response even though she full well knew the answer. Because they didn't care. Because to them, they were nothing but pawns in a game.

"Just be safe, okay, and here, take this." She fished an herb grenade out of her bag. Alaric had given her two, one for Matt and one for her. Just in case her magic didn't work on Klaus or the hybrids.

Matt took the grenade in his hand and stared at it hopelessly. "Do you ever feel like all of this is just a never ending nightmare?"

"All the time." She admitted.

She wanted to say something else, to try and comfort him, tell him that he would be alright. But before she could speak a girl cut in.

"So sorry, I hate to interrupt, but could I ask you for a quick favor?" She asked Matt.

The girl was tall and slim and she wore a dark jacket. She couldn't be that much older then Bonnie and yet, there was something about her that made Bonnie think she was much much older after all. Bonnie tensed and in her mind she raced through the options. Vampire, hybrid, werewolf, witch. Good or bad. On their side or on Klaus'. Or maybe she was just a regular human and Bonnie was overreacting.

"Sure." Matt stammered, caught off guard. "What can I do for you?"

The girl smiled and Bonnie payed close attention to her. "My car broke down, it just died right under me, so I am wondering if you have the number of a tow service, or something like that?"

Bonnie looked for the tell tale signs of compulsion, but if the girl was capable of it, then she wasn't using it now.

"Yeah, sure, let me just grab it for you."

Matt went into the back, leaving Bonnie alone with the girl. She had perfect olive skin and black hair that she had pulled back into a ponytail. She seemed harmless, but there was definitely something about her, Bonnie could sense it. She swallowed hard when the girl looked back at her.

"That sucks." Bonnie blurted out, trying to fill the awkward silence. The girl raised an elegant eyebrow in response.

"Having your car break down." Bonnie added.

The girl smiled in apprehension."Yeah it does, though it was to be expected really, I drive an old piece of crap. I am surprised it didn't die before I got here."

"So, are you staying in Mystic Falls then?" Bonnie asked, unable to keep her curiosity and suspicions under check.

The girl, thankfully, didn't seem to think her too noisy. "Yup, for a little while at least, I am visiting relatives, you know how it is." She seemed to find that amusing for some reason and then she held out her hand. "I'm Meredith, by the way."

And there it was, the opportunity Bonnie had been hoping for. She just had to touch her and she would know what she was and maybe even who. Bonnie plastered on her most convincing fake smile and shook Meredith's hand.

"I'm Bonnie." She barely got the words out. Thank God, she had enough experience with acting cool by now.

Human. The girl called Meredith was human and that shocked Bonnie the most, because of what she saw next. Blood and pain. Fear and anguish. Bruises, broken bones, scars both physical and emotional. And Death. Most of all Bonnie felt Death. It took everything in her not to pull her hand back too quickly and recoil in disgust.

Meredith glanced back to the entrance to the back room and frowned. Bonnie barely registered it, she was still trying to sort out what she had just seen. Who was this girl?

"Is it just me or has he been gone way too long?"

That snapped Bonnie back to reality, along with her buzzing phone. It was text from Matt:

Out back. Hurry.

"Something wrong?" Meredith asked.

"No." Bonnie lied. "I'm just ... I'll be right back."

It took her every bit of willpower not to run out of the Grill. Matt was in trouble, she could feel it in her gut. Her heart beat in her throat as the door closed behind her and she started running. It was too late when she realized she left her bag and her herb grenade inside. She couldn't go back now, she had to help Matt.

Her breath stuck in her throat when she rounded the corner and ran into the alley.

There were two men there, hybrids probably, one of whom was holding Matt in a vice like grip, his big meaty hand wrapped around Matt's neck. His feet dangled inches from the floor and his head was turning red. The other hybrid stood next to them and he looked even bigger and meaner then the other, a hug scar running across his face.

"Bonnie, no" Matt just managed to hoarsely whisper as he spotted her. His eyes were almost bulging out of his head.

"Let go of him!" Bonnie cried out instinctively, even though she knew it wouldn't help one bit. These hybrids were here for one reason, to kill.

Adrenaline started pumping through her veins, mixing with her fear and anxiety until she was shaking in her boots. She skidded to a halt a few feet from them and she thought off and immediately discarded a dozen plans to get out of this mess. She wasn't even sure if she could take down one hybrid with her magic, let alone two whilst Matt's life was being held in the balance.

Panic started to take hold of her.

The big one laughed at her and said: "This is a message from Klaus. He wants what's his."

"No!" Bonnie screamed as she jumped forward, knowing very well what would happen next.

Everything happened as if in slow motion. But she was totally, utterly wrong about what came next.

The big hybrid suddenly let out a choked guttering sound that made the hair on Bonnie's arms stand on end. She stopped dead in her tracks as a red line suddenly appeared on his throat. And then, without another sound the hybrid dropped to the ground, his head cut off clean.

Standing behind him, holding what looked like some kind of machete, was the girl, Meredith, from the Grill.

Bonnie had only time to gasp before the other hybrid responded.

He bellowed angrily and threw Matt across the alley. He hit the wall with a sickening thud and slid the the ground. The hybrid charged at the girl and Bonnie made a split second decision.

The hybrid collapses to the ground, clutching his head and writhing in pain. Bonnie focused all her power, all her energy on the vessels in the hybrids brain, popping them over and over again. A small part of her felt a sick sort of satisfaction at the fact that this trick worked on hybrids as well.

She could feel Meredith's eyes on her, but did not look up to meet her stare, afraid that she would lose control over the hybrid.

"Do it." She urged Meredith on.

She thankfully didn't need to be told twice. She stepped forward and raised the machete high then swung it down quickly, cutting through the hybrids neck as if it were nothing. His head rolled towards her feet and Bonnie felt her lunch come up again.

A groan from Matt made her snap out of it and she raced over to him, helping him back to his feet. His shoulder seemed to be bleeding, his neck looked red and blotchy and his eyes were dazed.

"You okay, Matt?" It was a stupid question she realized and Matt only replied by giving her a funny look. No matter what that meant, she was set on taking him to the hospital.

Matt looked past her and Bonnie followed his gaze. Meredith cleaned the blade of her weapon on one of the hybrids jackets, then put the weapon back in the sports bag she had been carrying. Only then did she look back up at them.

Death, Bonnie thought. The vision she had seen was of Death, but now she was beginning to understand why a human could feel like that: whoever this Meredith was, she was a hunter.

"Who the hell are you?" Matt asked bluntly.

The girl smiled calmly at that as she slung the bag over her shoulder.

"My name is Meredith Fell." She replied.

"A founder." Bonnie concluded, connecting the dots in her head.

Meredith nodded, then as she looked down at the bodies of the hybrids she asked: "Those weren't regular vampires, were they?"

"No, they weren't."

Meredith nodded again then looked back up at them. There was something about her calmness, her attitude, that was contagious, it made Bonnie feel less frenzied as well. As if everything was under control.

"I'm guessing we've got a lot to discuss."

"Yes, I think we do." Bonnie sighed.

"Lets take him to the hospital first, I'll get rid of the bodies" Meredith proposed, taking Matt's other arm and helping her keep him upright. Matt tried to protest but Bonnie shut him up quickly.

"We're going to the hospital." She told him, making it clear that she was not backing down."

"Fine." Matt muttered under his breath.

As they walked to Bonnie's car she glanced back at Meredith who opened the dumpster and started dragging the bodies to it.

She had this strange feeling about Meredith Fell. She felt that somehow she could trust her, that she was on their side. Bonnie wished it was true, cause they could use another ally or friend.


End file.
